A passenger plane burst into flames on Sunday after it skidded off the runway at a South Korean airport during a head-on landing. Officials say the equipment apparently failed to activate, killing at least 62 people.
The National Fire Agency said the fire was almost extinguished, but officials were still trying to pull people from the Jeju Air passenger plane, which was carrying 181 people, at the airport in the southern city of Muan.
The agency reported that at least 62 people died in the fire.
Rescuers pulled out two people – a passenger and a crew member. 32 fire engines and several helicopters were dispatched to extinguish the fire.
Footage of the crash broadcast by YTN shows the Jeju Air plane skidding on the runway and colliding head-on with a concrete wall on the outskirts of the facility. The Ministry of Transport said the incident occurred at 9:03 a.m. local time.
Emergency services in Muan said they were investigating the cause of the fire. They said the plane's landing gear appeared to have failed. The Ministry of Transport said the plane was returning from Bangkok and among the passengers were two Thai citizens.
Local television stations broadcast footage of the plane burning, with thick pillows of black smoke billowing from it.
The incident occurred as South Korea was plunged into a massive political crisis triggered by then-President Yoon Suk Yeol's stunning imposition of martial law and subsequent impeachment. South Korean lawmakers on Friday impeached acting President Han Duck-soo and suspended his duties, forcing Vice Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok to take power.
According to Yonhap news agency, Choi ordered authorities to use all available resources to rescue passengers and crew. Yoon's office said his chief secretary Chung Jin-suk would chair an emergency meeting of the president's senior staff on Sunday to discuss the disaster.
